The 8-4-4 system of Education is on its way out. Did Kenya’s economy gain or lose?.Reflections of a beneficiary of “a controversial System”.

Today, I am over excited to introduce a guest blogger, Mr. George Odeny. Mr. Odeny is a seasoned Linguistics and Literature teacher with over ten years teaching experience, currently serving as a deputy Head teacher in Kisumu County. He Holds a Bachelor of  Education Arts Degree in Literature and Linguistics from The University of Nairobi.

George and I are related blood cousins and lifetime childhood friends. I have admired his linguistics, fiction and non-fiction writing, literature mastery and Marketplace leadership skills over the past ten years of his professional life.

As both beneficiary student and teacher  of the 8-4-4 education system, He is delighted to share his thoughts and reflection on the pros and cons of this system which is currently being out phased in Kenya.

Without further ado, here is George’s piece:

The 8-4-4 system of education was introduced to Kenya in 1985.Its advent marked the culmination of the report findings of the Presidential Working Party on the Introduction of a Second University in Kenya-better known as the Mackay Commission of 1983.

 At the point of introduction, the system was meant to ameliorate core issues affecting the country’s economy: a burgeoning population exerting pressure on the economic sensibilities of the nation-lack of jobs, increasing dependence on the government for solutions to a myriad challenges afflicting the populace as well as an apparent stagnation in the private sector.

Over the years, the system has been bastardised left, right and centre. Its graduates have been dismissed as half-baked and prospective employers have raised constant concerns over the big gaps between their competencies vis-à-vis the demands of industry.

President Moi sought to inject a culture of creativity, innovation and self-reliance in seeking to come up with a system that was tailor-made to cure ills that had been well identified .Thirty two years later, Kenya is at the very point of departure from 8-4-4.

The country is on the verge of introducing a new system of education that is projected to inculcate innovation, creativity, self-reliance and critical thinking. All these revolving around the application of Information Communication Technology (ICT) at the core of the curriculum.

What happened to the original vision of a creative, innovative and self-reliant graduate as envisaged by President Moi? Over the years, the system has undergone tweaks; for instance , The Koech Commission of the year 2000 reduced examinable subjects to five and seven in primary and secondary schools respectively while relegating to non-examinable subjects the very areas of study that were at the core of promoting self-reliance, creativity and innovation . The 8-4-4 system in 2017 is markedly different from what it was 20 years ago. The resultant mongrel, a product of tactical tweaks by policy shapers to make up to the demands of a consistently capricious world.

Policy shapers insist that exams alone should not be used to shape the destiny and future placement of the system’s graduates but for sure that has been the case over the years .Which explains the madness about passing exams by hook or crook. There aren’t well defined paths to further training for those who don’t do well in the exams-those who score less than grade C-(minus). The youth polytechnics are just lip-service for policy shapers and if at all they are there, then they are poorly equipped with few demoralised staff members. Or a constant pressure to convert them to constituent colleges of universities.

In seeking to revamp his country’s education system for the cutting edge technological leap that firmly placed the United States of America at the vanguard of world technology, John F. Kennedy addressed congress thus ,’’Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. Our requirements for world leadership, our hopes for economic growth, and the demands of citizenship in an era such as this all require the maximum development of every young American’s capacity.’’ Kennedy would go ahead to request for legislative measures that revitalised the sciences, mathematics, languages and general knowledge. The net effect of which would land Neil Armstrong into the moon in 1969.

Is it possible to pinpoint the zenith of 8-4-4? Which or how many scientists, business people, scholars, artists and similar success stories did the Kenya government sequester and celebrate a la Neil Armstrong? Do our industries influence the academy? Does our academy produce what the industry demands of us?

The Japanese produce high performers in reading, literacy, mathematics and sciences among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) students. Accordingly ,’’The Japanese economy is largely scientific and technological based .The labour market demands people who have achieved higher education, particularly related to science and engineering.’’ This is possible because the Japanese deliberately focus on the teachers and students. The Japanese teacher, like his/her South Korean counterpart, is a co-creator of knowledge and a generator of ideas (together with his/her students).The Kenyan teacher, because of the premium placed on exams at the end of the education cycle, emphasises the regurgitation of facts and passing of examination at whatever cost.

That the tectonics of a country’s economy should have a bearing on what is taught in class cannot be gainsaid. The education system should produce what the economy demands-teachers, engineers, lawyers, economists, artisans, bankers, carpenters, bricklayers, nurses, locomotive drivers or even pilots. The policy shapers can ensure this outcome by varying the amounts of money released to the relevant training institutes specialising in the various disciplines needed in the economy.

The government of Kenya has indicated a strong desire to peel back 8-4-4 and in its place bring in the new 2-6-6-3, a system which is projected to produce holistic individuals biased on Information Communication Technology (ICT).

At the core of everything, have we, as a country answered what eventually failed 8-4-4? Thirty two years later, self-reliance, creativity, innovation and critical thinking remain a mirage. Has the country produced job seekers or job creators? Is there a linkage between the economy and the academy?

For a country to wholly shift the thinking on how she trains and prepares her youth for their future roles in the economy, there should be a deliberate attempt at a radicle paradigm shift. A shift which should have the teacher at its core. It is highly in doubt whether the teacher is at the core of the newly proposed curriculum.

Nowhere is this more relevant than the recently introduced Digital Learning Programme (DLP) that seeks to digitise learning and provoke critical thinking, creativity and innovation in the learner-in   preparation for the new switch. The key cog in the whole process, the teacher, hasn’t been properly prepared. Nyang’ande Zone, in Nyando Sub-county in Kisumu taken as a microcosm presents a worrying picture. Because the teacher wasn’t properly trained to appreciate the integration of ICT in teaching, the computer devices (Learner Digital Devices) as well as the (Teacher Digital Devices) are safely stored without being consistently used in most schools. The few schools with computer-competent teachers attempt to use the devices but it (the usage), for sure, is not a regularity. Besides there is no monitoring mechanism in place to give feedbacks on the uptake of the technology in the said schools. Even as it is said that knowledge of computer is the bedrock upon which the new curriculum is premised.

If the new system of education were to fundamentally affect, shape and influence our economy like it happens in the Asian tigers, then industry players: economists, the media, employers, students, teachers, ordinary citizens, politicians, the church, civil society and relevant bodies like UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) among many others should critique it thoroughly at the formative stage to ensure that thirty two years later, the country does not again talk of half-baked this and half-baked that-to the extent that Kenya’s education system will be concerned. That the system being proposed at the moment will not end up as another nostrum to the industrial health of the country, if indeed that is what 8-4-4 has been.

georgeodeny963@gmail.com